1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic-program-guide (EPG) retrieval methods and systems for retrieving program information from an EPG. More specifically, the present invention relates to an EPG retrieval method and an EPG retrieval system in which program information is retrieved from an EPG by extracting, from a database, keywords relevant to a retrieval keyword input by a client, and using the extracted keywords and the input retrieval keyword.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when program information is retrieved using an EPG, a retrieval keyword is input by a user, and program information that completely corresponds to the retrieval keyword or program information that corresponds to words similar or relevant in meaning to the retrieval keyword is retrieved.
This retrieval keyword and the words similar or relevant to the retrieval keyword are keywords simply and mechanically determined by an EPG provider. Thus, the desired program information may not be retrieved using the user-input keyword. For example, retrieval using a person's name as a keyword has a problem in that an appropriate retrieval cannot be performed because commonly used names (only a family name, only a given name, a nickname, etc.) representing a person, a group to which a person belongs, etc., are not considered in a retrieval.